Aberdeen lost consecutive away league games against Livingston for the first time – going down 2-1 on a night of VAR penalty madness in West Lothian.
A calamitous opening saw the Dons 2-0 down to Jack Fitzwater’s finish and Sean Kelly’s penalty – given by referee Nick Walsh for handball by Connor Barron on review. It was the first of three penalties given for handball in the game after Walsh went to the monitor.
Bojan Miovski failed to convert the first Dons penalty on the stroke of half-time, but Duk – having taken over the duties from his strike partner – netted from the spot early in the second period as a much-improved Aberdeen fought tooth and nail for an equaliser.
But they couldn’t find it.
And questions will once again be asked about how costly Jim Goodwin’s side’s lack of defensive solidity could end up being this season if it isn’t sorted – quickly and with consistency, especially away from home.
Aberdeen went into the game on the back of Friday’s 4-1 win at home to Hibs – where they had been clinical despite giving up a lot of possession.
Friday’s victory had them sitting third in the table ahead of kick-off in West Lothian, but just three points ahead of their eighth-placed hosts.
Goodwin – who was again in the stands as he served the last match of his immediate three-game touchline ban – made one change, as Jack MacKenzie came back in for Hayden Coulson at left-back.
The Dons were trying to bolster a dreadful away record in the last couple of seasons, which had seen them win just three times in 25 Premiership matches on the road following their 2-1 win away to Livi on August 8 last year. Part of that run was a 2-1 defeat on their last visit to the Tony Macaroni, under former boss Stephen Glass, in February.
David Martindale’s Livi were, meanwhile, seeking revenge for a 5-0 hammering at Pittodrie earlier this season.
In the first few minutes, Aberdeen looked threatening going forward at pace, but hesitant defending would soon see Livi take charge and open the scoring.
On seven minutes, they failed to clear their lines from Sean Kelly’s corner, with Fitzwater able to fire low beyond Reds keeper Kelle Roos, who looked to have got a hand to it.
This signalled the start of a period where Aberdeen were on the ropes.
Roos dived well to his left to divert Ayo Obileye’s 25-yard free-kick round his left post, but the Lions had the Dons penned in, sending several corners into the area which they were struggling to get away.
Eventually, in what must have been a relief for Aberdeen’s defence, forward Duk broke clear with trademark pace, forcing Nicky Devlin to haul him over deep in Livi’s half.
However, play was then pulled back so referee Nick Walsh could check the VAR monitor for a potential handball from Barron during the home side’s earlier bombardment.
Having gone to the screen, Walsh – of course – pointed to the spot, with Sean Kelly firing hard down the middle to make it 2-0 after just 18 minutes.
After being run ragged in the opening half an hour, Aberdeen worked Shamal George in the Livi goal for the first time on 30 minutes, with Bojan Miovski’s header from MacKenzie’s left-flank cross tipped over, before MacKenzie himself would wriggle free and crack a 10-yard effort off George’s right post.
Obileye could have been in trouble on 35 minutes, had Walsh punished him for what looked a clear – and potentially last-man – trip on Duk.
In the final part of the opening period, the Dons continued to look fragile up against Livi’s midfield and forwards, with Anthony Stewart almost scuffing the ball into his own net from another corner, while Miovski poked wide and Leighton Clarkson’s strike from range looped up and off the crossbar at the other end.
With it looking like a two-goal half-time deficit for Aberdeen, they received a potential reprieve – ref Walsh again went to the VAR monitor to check a potential handball from Livi’s Jason Holt, before awarding Aberdeen a penalty of their own.
Miovski scored from the spot after a retake against Hibs, but was denied by George in the Lions’ goal – who dived right to block a pretty timid spot-kick attempt, with the keeper also holding his follow-up header.
Second half sees Aberdeen try to roar back
For the second half, Aberdeen swapped to a 4-3-3, with Ross McCrorie departing for Matty Kennedy – and the winger looked up for it, with driving runs and plenty of service into the area.
It would be 2-1 on 59 minutes, with another VAR review leading to yet another penalty for handball – with Livi centre-half Fitzwater adjudged to have handled as Miovski attempted to nod the ball down.
Duk took over the penalty duties for Aberdeen, and his spot-kick went high into the net, despite George getting a big hand to it.
The Reds, who had looked all at sea at the back and in midfield in the early stages of the game, were now dominant thanks to their attacking abilities, and Duk would almost level from a Kennedy cross as the contest entered its final half-hour – only to see the ball bounce agonisingly wide of the right post.
If Aberdeen were going to get a point, or maybe more, it was clear Duk would be at the heart of it, and the Cape Verde international, who Livi were struggling to contain, was only denied his – and Aberdeen’s – second on 68 minutes thanks to an impressive goal-line block from Obileye after the Dons striker fired goalward from a Kennedy cross.
After this moment, although they continued to probe, the clear-cut chances dried up for the Aberdeen, until the 87th minute – when Duk shot over the bar with only George to beat.
It felt like their last chance to salvage a game they at one stage looked like losing heavily, but they didn’t take it and – despite six minutes of added time in which to keep trying – the defeat was confirmed.
ABERDEEN (3-1-4-2): Roos 5, Scales 5, Stewart 5 (for Ramirez 83), McCrorie 5 (for Kennedy 45), Ramadani 6, MacKenzie 6 (for Coulson 71), Clarkson 6 (for Besuijen 71), Barron 6, Richardson 5 (for Watkins 93), Duk 7, Miovski 6.
Subs not used: Lewis, Morris, Bavidge, Lobban.
LIVINGSTON (4-2-3-1): George 7, Devlin 6, Fitzwater 6, Obileye 6, Montano 6 (for Penrice 71), Sean Kelly 6, Holt 6 (for Shinnie 61), Pittman 6 (for Boyes 85), Bahamboula 6, (for Omeonga 61), Nouble 7, Anderson 6 (for Goncalves 71).
Subs not used: Konovalov, Longridge, Stephen Kelly,
Referee: Nick Walsh
Man-of-the-match: Duk
Attendance: 2,598
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